1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to particle radiation therapy systems and, in particular, concerns an improved data storage system that reduces the effects of single point failures for radiation beam therapy systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Particle radiation therapy involves coordinating complex systems and devices to enable targeting of specific cancerous regions of a patient. In particular, proton beam therapy utilizes one or more precisely aligned particle streams to irradiate cancer or tumor cells. The energized protons disrupt targeted cells or tissue so as to effectively halt the progression of the disease. In proton beam therapy, the patient should be accurately positioned with respect to the one or more beams so that the stream irradiates only the desired target region. Otherwise, the stream may damage other healthy cells within the patient's body. Specific alignment in this manner requires numerous control systems to maintain accurate and precise dosage delivery to a plurality of patients during prescribed treatments.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,287, a proton treatment facility may comprise a proton energy source, an injector, an accelerator, a beam transport system, a switchyard, and a plurality of treatment stations so as to accommodate multiple patients. Each treatment station may comprise a plurality of treatment components such as treatment platforms, gantry structures, and patient monitoring components. Additionally, control and monitoring of the proton treatment facility may be directed by computer and hardware subsystems, which coordinate the activities of each treatment station using software configurable components.
Moreover, control system activities may include beam intensity management, beam position orientation and modification, digital imaging performance, safety condition monitoring, and various other treatment functions. Together these systems form a highly complex collection of hardware and software components. The complexity of the proton treatment facility may be further magnified by managing multiple treatment stations where additional requirements for system redundancy and selective control of each treatment station is required.
The complex architecture of proton therapy systems present numerous obstacles for coordinating control of a high volume patient throughput. On a typical treatment day, prescribed treatment dosages may be configured for many patients using a plurality of treatment stations, whereby delivery of simultaneous treatments may effect concurrent treatment dosages between patients. For example, each treatment station may require a different proton beam energy delivery, wherein the overall energy is calculated and produced at the source, the switchyard diverts the proper amount of proton beam energy to each treatment station, and the multiple gantries are positioned to deliver the diverted energy to the target regions of the patients on the treatment platforms.
To elicit the coordination control of multiple treatment stations, conventional proton beam therapy control systems use either a centralized computer system, such as a database server, or separate computer subsystems to localize control. The problem with a centralized computer system is that, if one or more treatment components fails to function or goes offline, the system as a whole may shut down. Also, if the centralized computer fails, the treatment components may stop functioning because they rely on the centralized computer for operational instructions. Unfortunately, with the high volume of treatments to be delivered, a system shut down would be inconvenient, costly, and reduce treatment efficiency.
Some treatments may be delayed or postponed for another day, which inconveniences everyone including the patient and the system operators. In other circumstances, a delayed or postponed treatment may degrade the therapy provided, wherein the treatment time may need to be reduced or the dosage modified to accommodate a larger number of treatments in a reduced period of time. Additionally, delayed treatments may also incur additional treatment costs due to extended periods of operation, where system operators are paid overtime wages and the treatment delivery systems remain operable for longer periods of time. Therefore, a centralized computer alone is not the answer due to unavoidable failures that may occur during treatment delivery, which may endanger some patients.
Since patient safety is a great concern, some conventional proton beam therapy control systems use separate computer subsystems to localize control to particular treatment components. The problem with localized control is that each component requires a system operator to manually enter prescribed treatment and operational parameters for each patient at each treatment station. Unfortunately, the length of each treatment would be extended due to the additional time needed to enter prescribed parameters for each patient treatment and system operation. Also, the high volume of treatments to be delivered would need to be reduced to accommodate the additional time or additional system operators would need to be hired to extend the treatment day, which results in additional operational costs.
Hence, there is a need for an improved proton beam therapy control system that manages multiple treatment delivery components and coordinates delivery of simultaneous treatments without compromising patient safety. There is also a need for an improved proton beam therapy control system that reduces the adverse effects of centralized computer failures if one or more treatment components fails to function. Additionally, this system architecture should be able to accommodate the complexity associated with proton beam therapy control systems while maintaining an acceptable level of user interactive simplicity so as to facilitate configuration, maintenance, and development in an efficient manner.